Outfielder Jeff Francoeur has had a penchant for timely hitting for the Phillies in semi-regular playing time this season. He hit a grand slam off of Madison Bumgarner earlier this season and drilled an insurance three-run home run on Friday against the Marlins.

He offered more heroics on Sunday, helping the Phillies finish off a sweep the reeling Fish. He singled and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh after entering as a defensive replacement, but the Phillies lost their lead, going into the bottom of the ninth down 7-6. With Carlos Ruiz on base, Francoeur crushed a walk-off two-run home run off of closer A.J. Ramos into the left-field stands, a no doubter.

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Francoeur has emerged as a potential trade chip for the Phillies. Despite a meager .257 average and .288 on-base percentage, he’s slugging .449 with eight home runs in 198 plate appearances.

Coming change in the front office which would likely result in his termination may have been part of it. Losing is not easy either. But Bowa believes that Sandberg simply got tired of feeling disrespected by his players:

Several pitchers — Hamels, A.J. Burnett, Kyle Kendrick and David Buchanan — openly disrespected Sandberg during visits to the mound last season . . . There were issues this season, as well. Cameras caught Chase Utley chastising pitching coach Bob McClure during a relief appearance by Jeff Francoeur last month in Baltimore, and Ken Giles showed up the manager and got an earful in return in Pittsburgh.

Bowa said that Giles is a good kid, but that he got caught up in the moment. But it seems Sandberg got caught up too, yelling at Gile: “He went over and said, ‘I’m running this team. If I want to put that guy on, I’m putting him on. I’m the manager, you’re the pitcher.'”

Was that one of the moments that led to Sandberg’s decision?

“Maybe,” Bowa said. “Maybe.“

Salisbury prefaces all of this with some stuff about how Sandberg, going back 20 years to his autobiography, said that he just couldn’t abide the younger players’ lack of work ethic. Of course, old baseball men have been saying that for over 100 years. And of course when you have A.J. Burnett, Cole Hamels and Chase Utley on your case, it’s not exactly a function of “young guys” not getting it. It’s a function of you pretty much having lost your entire clubhouse. If you ever had it.

Maybe the Phillies’ job would’ve been impossible for anyone given the state of the roster and the fact that, in following Charlie Manuel, Sandberg was following a man who was seen as a players’ manager and a man who was immensely popular with the veterans on the team.

But there sure is a whole heck of a lot suggesting that maybe Ryne Sandberg wasn’t the right man for the job and that he wasn’t of the experience and temperament to deal with a major league clubhouse.

Update (9:52 PM EST): John Perrotto of USA TODAY adds that the Pirates also have interest in Phillies outfielder Ben Revere, but he would come at a higher cost.

Jon Morosi of FOX Sports reports that the Pirates are interested in trading for Phillies outfielder Jeff Francoeur, as well as other potential bench and platoon bats.

Francoeur, 31, has had a bit of a resurgence with the Phillies after posting abysmal numbers between 2012-14. He has hit .249 with a meager .281 on-base percentage, but has slugged .414 with six home runs in 192 plate appearances. Baseball Reference credits him with an adjusted OPS of 91, which is only nine points below the league average. Comparatively, Matt Kemp has an adjusted OPS of 85.

Francoeur has hit lefties much better than their right-handed counterparts, with an OPS split of .800 and .547, respectively, so he would fit into a platoon situation. He is eligible for free agency after the season.